What is survival? Which survival equipment to undertake your first trip?

Are you looking for an outdoor activity that represents a real break from everyday life? Aren’t you afraid of difficult challenges and do you like to learn new skills? In this article, we explain to you what survival is, what it means and what equipment you should have if you are preparing for your first survival trip.

The term is used to describe a type of activity that aims to survive in difficult conditions. The most concise definition was created by the writer, Polish educator and promoter of this idea: Krzysztof J. Kwiatkowski, who referred to survival as a car -savoory.

What is survival? Which survival equipment to undertake your first trip?

Survival is based on knowledge and practical skills to meet essential needs on difficult soil. It is a question of facing an unknown environment, sometimes and in adverse weather conditions, when the potential support is far away and many of the results of civilization cannot be used.

Survival is considered an interdisciplinary field, because it is based on sciences such as medicine, psychology, physiology, physics, chemistry, geography, botany or meteorology. The aspects relating to the traits of the personality and the psyche of the people participating in the survival actions play an important role. It is an activity for people who can bear the inconvenience, they are patients and persevents. Even the ability to control emotions and the ability to quickly make rational decisions in a potentially stressful situation.

If we look at survival from the point of view of history, we turn to the conclusion that its precursors were our distant ancestors. For people who live in prehistory, the acquisition of this type of ability was a matter of life and death. Today it is often a form of leisure activities.

Survival is a wider concept than you might think. According to the generally accepted classification it can refer to three areas.

It consists in the acquisition of knowledge and ability and to maintain the skills necessary to carry out the duties of a military nature. This type of activity refers more often to the preparations made in the event of war, although recreational forms can be found (in which enthusiasts participate, which are not related to the army). Military survival involves, for example, actions in extremely difficult circumstances, such as bombing or artillery fires. These action scenarios usually include limited access to key resources: water and food, as well as medicines.

This type of survival is related to extreme situations, such as disasters (for example earthquakes, floods), current feathers, terrorist attacks or revolts that take place in urban areas. Urban survival activities involve limited access to drinking water and food, lack of communications, epidemiological threats or aggression of the crowd. As it is about larger groups of people, the knowledge of psychology and social phenomena and behaviors are useful. Stress resistance and the ability to make rapid decisions are essential.

This is the direction closest to the colloquial interpretation of the word of survival, which we will focus later in this article. This type of activity is based on practical knowledge and skills, which allow existence in a natural environment, away from the results of civilization. An important principle here is respect for nature. The activities we carry out should stop the environment as little as possible.

Green survival should be considered an interesting form of recreation

although we must admit that it is not an activity for everyone. It is chosen by people who want to hide for a while in the forest to get rid of the city’s agitation, but they like to relax, they are looking for unconventional experiences and are prepared for new challenges. Furthermore, they do not disturb their lack of comfort and capricious atmosphere. If you think it will be ideal, you may be disappointed.

Does it make sense? The remarkable popularity of the different courses and survival camps shows that yes. In addition, this form of recreation is attractive to both adults and children who manage to get away from smartphones. Survival allows you to acquire skills that will be useful not only during catacistic events, but also in more trivial situations (for example, during an atmospheric agent on a path or during a family campsite on the shore of a lake). Learn improvisation and develops character.

If you decide to try such an adventure, you will have to assimilate knowledge, which covers different areas and acquire a package of practical skills. Here are some examples of skills taught to survival practitioners.

Are you sure there are no protozoa or bacteria in a mountain stream that could cause poisoning? You cannot understand «with the naked eye». Knowing water treatment methods can therefore protect you from stomach disorders.

During a survival field, you have to eat something

So you can expect, among other things, in an identification course of edible plants and mushrooms. In addition, there is usually a small theory of simple hunting techniques.

In an era when we drive everywhere with the help of phones navigation, few are those who know how to use a map and a compass. On a survival journey, you will surely acquire this ability. You will also learn how to orient yourself on the ground, based on the position of the stars or indications in nature.

An instability of the time or approach of the night are situations in which to find a roof above the head is a priority. During the survival courses and the fields, you will acquire knowledge about the «outdoor construction». You will learn how, without advanced tools, to prepare an improvised refuge to give you the maximum sense of safety.

This is one of the basic skills. Fire is not only a source of light, but it will keep you hot and will allow you to prepare a hot meal. In a survival frame, a bonfire will also discourage wild animals. On such a journey, you will surely learn what will burn better and how to manage it when you have no correspondences or a lighter.

It is possible that the participants in the actions described here have doubts about the name of their activity. All because two terms with similar meanings operate side by side. How can you understand if you are dealing with survival and not the bush? A survivor must have the necessary skills to survive in a crisis situation. He or she operates according to a scenario in which the most important thing is to survive. Survival is an ad hoc nature, it is necessary to overcome problems and return safely to civilization on the first occasion.

Bushcraft is instead a style, a way of life. Fans of this activity deal with the operation near nature, in isolation by many of the results of civilization, as for an end in itself. This is the reason why they are anxious to acquire a wide range of skills that allow them to live in the long -term forest.

To survive on accidental soils, you need some simple but reliable tools. You wonder what a survival kit should contain? There is no universal list. The content of the backpack will vary according to the level of knowledge, the time of the year or the characteristics of the place where you run away. Remember that if it is your first survival trip, it is not advisable to be too minimalist.